Max Verstappen and George Russell had a fierce duel on track during the 2023 Azerbaijan GP sprint race. The Briton made a move on the inside of the Dutchman. The contact left a gaping hole on the sidepod of the RB19, sabotaging Verstappen’s result.
Russell claimed he did not have enough tire grip and did not intend to clash with Verstappen. However, the furious Dutchman said Russell was merely giving excuses and called the Mercedes driver a ‘Di*khead’ on live TV.
F1 fans were not impressed with the 2x world champion’s unsporting demeanor. However, not too long ago, Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton called the Red Bull driver the same.
Lewis Hamilton called Max Verstappen a “Di*khead”
Lewis Hamilton fought an aggressive move against Max Verstappen during the 2018 Bahrain GP. The Briton was unhappy after Verstappen pushed him off the track at turn 1 on lap 2.
The seven-time world champion suffered minor bodywork damage due to his contact with Verstappen. However, the Dutchman punctured his left rear tire, forcing him to retire from the race.
Hamilton eventually finished the race P3 but was disgruntled after watching the replay of his incident with Verstappen in the cooldown room. After watching the clip of the Red Bull driver running him wide, the Briton sighed and called the driver a ‘di*khead.’
According to Hamilton, the Dutchman was too aggressive in the early laps and forced him wide. Verstappen said after the race that the Mercedes driver was just pushing the blame on him as he was the younger driver.
Hamilton later apologized to the red bull driver for the remark. The roles were clearly reversed in 2023, as Verstappen blamed George Russell for making silly excuses.
Verstappen claims Russell is making excuses
George Russell believes Max Verstappen should have been wise not to attack him while the latter was on the outside. The Briton claims his tires were cold, and the Dutchman’s angry reaction at the end of the sprint was unwarranted.
However, the Dutchman ridiculed the Mercedes driver saying, “He’s very good at explaining and creating excuses.” Verstappen claims he gave a fair fight to Russell, who did not repeat the same during their clash at lap 1.
Verstappen continued in the post-race interview, “Everyone had cold tires, and I think I had every right to be on the outside. I gave him enough space. But you need two guys to work together to make the corner. Clearly, he didn’t.”
However, Russell indicated that Verstappen would have done the same if he had been in his place. The Briton claims he would not treat Verstappen any differently just because the Dutchman leads the championship.
